Without question, one of the greatest Christians who ever lived was a man by the name of Paul. Paul suffered for the cause of Christ. He abandoned a life of luxury and prestige to preach the Gospel of grace. He walked away from friends, family and fortune to go with Jesus and tell others about the Lord. Paul was a faithful believer, a powerful preacher, and a "man" used more than any other in his generation, or in any generation since. But, Paul knew better than anyone that without Jesus Christ he was none of those things. Listen to his own testimony in 1 Cor. 15:10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” Paul knew that his life, and everything that had come from his life, was the result of God’s grace working in him and through him.

     I want to look into these verses for a few minutes today. I want to try to preach about the salvaton of Saul, what a wonderful story, a true story. Saving Grace. May the Lord help us to understand The Saving Grace of Jesus Christ.

    1. In Spite Of His Deeds

       A. What Paul was like before he came to know Jesus.

           1. A staunch Jew who did everything in his power to destroy

               Christianity,

          2. But, in spite of this, God loved him and saved him!

     B. We are not much different

         1. We are all sinners – Rom. 3:10-23; Gal. 3:22

         2. We are dead in our sins and cannot get to God – Eph. 2:1

        3. We all deserve to go to Hell – Rom. 3:23; Psa. 9:17

        4. Yet, God comes to where we are and He extends His saving

           grace into our lives

    2. In Spite Of His Desires

       A. Paul had no thoughts of being saved. In fact, he was doing

            everything in his power to destroy the Gospel.

       B. Despite what he wanted, God came to him anyway!

       C. If we were left to our own desires, we would never come to

            God.

           1. He comes to us first, (Jh.6:44)

           2. Our path would lead us straight to Hell’s flames,

               (Pro. 16:25).

      E. I praise His name that He does not care about our desires, but

           He comes to us and draws us unto Himself.

    3. In Spite Of His Defiance

       A. The word “pricks” in verse 5 means “to sting” and it refers to a

            goad,

       B. Paul was doing his own thing, and God was goading his heart.

      C. God was making life uncomfortable for Paul and he was

           fighting what God was doing in his heart and life. But, God

          ignored the defiance of Paul and continued to goad him until he

         was ready to surrender to the will of God.

    1. The Devotion Of His Life

        A. At one point, the Law of God had been the central focus of

            Paul’s life. But, when he met Jesus, the Lord became the

           centerpiece of Paul’s life.

      B. He became devoted to following and serving the Lord Jesus

    2. The Direction Of His Life

        A. Saul of Tarsus was devoted to practicing, defending and

             expanding Judaism.

        B. Paul, on the other hand, was a man who looked on all the

            achievements of his Past life as nothing and who wanted

            nothing more than to be totally sold out to and for Jesus Christ,

           (Phil. 3:7-11).

      C. He forsook everything and went after Jesus!

    3. The Destination Of His Life

       A. Paul was sure that his devotion to the Jewish religious system

            would save him

       B. Paul would never have believed it if you had told him that he

            was actually headed to Hell.

      C. But, when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, everything

           changed. Not just Paul’s life, but his eternal destination was

           also changed forever.

     D. We live in a day when many people do not believe in Hell any

          longer. But, that does not change the fact that all those who do

          not know Jesus are still headed to Hell.

    E. But, friend, when you come to know Jesus as your Savior, you

         are instantly taken off the road to Hell and transplanted onto the

         road to Glory!

    1. Grace Provided All That He Lacked

        A. Paul possessed many things in his life.

            1. Power, prestige, position, prosperity, popularity and

                promise.

            2. But, he lacked the most important things of all. (Grace)

       B. He Had Religion, But He Lacked Redemption – Kept the Law

           1. Being religious and doing religious things will never save

               your soul! Religion will not get it done! You must have a

               personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You must come to

               Him through faith in His shed blood, 1 Pet. 1:18-19.

         C. He Had Service, But He Lacked Salvation

              1. Paul was doing his best to serve God. He thought that he

                  was doing all the right things. He was a hard worker and he

                  was active, but he was still a lost sinner until he met Jesus!

             2. When he met Jesus, he received all the things he had never

                  been able to earn by all his hard, religious effort.

             3. The same is true in your life and mine. We can never “earn”

                 or “deserve” salvation by our good deeds. We are saved

                 through “by grace through faith” alone, Eph. 2:8-9.

           D. He Had Honor, But He Lacked Hope

               1. Saul was the rising star of Judaism. He was the apple of

                   every Jew’s eye. But, deep within his heart, he knew

                   something was missing, verse 5.

              2. His response was to try harder; to attack the church and to

                  try and eliminate the name of Jesus. He had no real hope

                  in his life.

             3. You may have everything this world can give a person, but if

                 you do not know Jesus, then you have no hope beyond this

                 life.

    2. Grace Provided All That He Had Longed For

       A. Everything Paul was striving for a religious sinner was given to

            him in abundance when he became a partaker of God’s great

           grace.

           1. Grace Provided Faith

           2. Grace Provided Fellowship

           3. Grace Proved Fulfillment

      B. Friend, you will never get it done by yourself. You need Jesus.

     C. If you will come to Him, He will give you rest from your labors,

          Matt. 11:28; and peace in your heart, Phil. 4:7. He will give you

          a spiritual fulfillment that you could never produce by your own

          works.

 A story is told of Peter Miller, a plain Baptist preacher living in Ephrata, Pennsylvania in the days of the Revolutionary War. Near his church lived a man who maligned the pastor to the last degree. The man became involved in treason and was arrested and sentenced to be hanged. The preacher started out on foot and walked the all seventy miles to Philadelphia to plead for the man's life. Washington heard his plea, but he said, "No, your plea for your friend cannot be granted." "My friend!" said the preacher. "He is not my friend! He is the worst enemy I have." "What!" said Washington, "you have walked nearly seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in a different light. I will grant the pardon."

This is the essence of grace. It affords us God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Grace has been described as “the unmerited love and favor of God for undeserving lost sinners.” In spite of all we are and all we have done, God still extends